Whether it’s a pedometer, a sleep tracker, or a doctor’s appointment system, chances are you have a health app on your smartphone.
Health and wellness apps are big business: the market was valued at around €36 billion in 2022 and is now used by around 560 million people worldwide. As technology improves, health-conscious consumers are becoming more comfortable logging their details on their phones, a trend exacerbated by the pandemic as millions of us track Covid symptoms and vaccinations on apps like ZOE.
There’s an app for every aspect of wellbeing, many of which offer psychological support and act as a sort of ‘health coach’. “Apps feed our desire for instant gratification,” says Jane Ogden, professor of health psychology at the University of Surrey.
“They give us immediate, measurable feedback that reinforces our behavior. It can be highly addictive and is very helpful when it comes to changing our habits. As with other interventions, the novelty may wear off: the applications have suffered a major failure. But they tend to be inexpensive, require little effort, and can be a good long-term investment.”
Dr Heidi Sage, lecturer in health psychology at Cardiff Meteorological University, added: “People typically find it difficult to assess the nutrient or energy content of their diet; so that health apps can help people understand how much they are consuming.
“However, food tracking can be problematic for people with eating disorders because it can increase concentration or rumination about eating behavior. Lifestyle apps can be useful for monitoring progress towards goals, but they do not always check whether the lifestyle goals set by their users are realistic and achievable.”
Many of the apps are scientifically backed and developed by respected doctors. So, if you’re planning to sign up for a health app to help you reach your health goals this year, which one should you choose? Here’s a review of four of the most popular apps, with users describing how each app helped them.
Best for Fast Results
Fast 800
Cost: £119 for 12 weeks, then £12 per month.
The Fast 800 program was developed by TV doctor Michael Mosley and other doctors and was recently endorsed by the NHS. The plan is designed for people looking to lose weight, including those with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes, and combines intermittent fasting with a Mediterranean diet. The online program (including app), currently reduced to £83, includes personalized meal plans, recipes, 200 instructor-led workouts, a health coach and evidence-based support to help you maintain your new habits.
Research shows that The Fast 800 users lost an average of 6kg in the first three months of use. Those who needed to lose the most weight (i.e. those with a BMI above 30 kg/m2) not only lost weight, but also maintained the most weight, achieving an average weight loss of 8.7 kg one year after completion research (£19). ). continue the course. There were also significant improvements in metabolic health, with nearly half (47 percent) of people with type 2 diabetes (170 of them) returning their blood sugar levels to a normal, healthy range while on the diet. Fans praised the clear goals for the day.
Pawel Gadomski, 45, an acute care consultant at the NHS in Manchester, weighed about 24 grams before he started using the Fast 800 app in 2020. As a doctor, he knew that being obese put him at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes, at a much higher risk. Risk during the Covid pandemic. “I used to go to therapy for stress and depression and tried some diets, but they didn’t work for me,” he says.
“Then I came across the Fast 800 program. It took a lot of mental effort to change my diet. I had to cook the next day’s meals the night before instead of sitting at home watching TV, but I was determined to lose weight. I used the program for twelve weeks and noticed a huge difference in my weight and overall well-being. I’m about 14.5 stone now so I’m down 10th.
“Overall I feel a lot better, I can climb stairs easier and I don’t get out of breath as much, so it’s definitely helped.”
Best for Gut Health
Zoya
Cost: From £24.99 per month.
The ZOE app is the brainchild of Tim Spector, a professor of nutrition at Imperial College London, who conducted groundbreaking research showing that calorie counting doesn’t work and that people respond differently to food depending on their physiology. ZOE offers personalized nutrition recommendations where users take a blood sugar test and questionnaire at home, then receive a personalized program based on the results. There are several membership options, including a four-month membership for £159.96.
Zoe’s research found that 70 percent of users report they have more energy and 85 percent feel their gut health has improved.
Julie, 59, from Bedford, who started using the ZOE app last year, said: “After listening to Tim Spector’s podcast I became interested in the gut microbiome and wanted to know what the state of my personal gut microbiome was. .
I felt like I was eating a very unhealthy diet for my metabolism. Once I received my test results, I started making the recommended changes and honestly have never felt better in my life.
My health has improved dramatically, my menopausal symptoms have completely disappeared, my energy is through the roof, the tinnitus has disappeared and I no longer feel sluggish after eating so I feel happy from the inside out. I also lost two stone.”
Best for sports lovers
MyFitnessPal
Cost: Free for the basic version or £15.99 per month for additional services.
MyFitnessPal was developed over 10 years ago and is aimed primarily at young people who want to control their calorie intake and expenditure through regular exercise. Users keep a food diary and the app notifies them if they fall below or exceed the calorie allowance for their daily activities. The company claims to have about 200 million loyal users worldwide.
Grant Roberts, 37, from Melbourne, has been using the app for more than five years and lost between 30 and 40 pounds in the first six months. He says, “It became a tool for learning more about nutrition and helped me stabilize my caloric intake and get the amount of exercise I needed.” eating healthier, I felt much better and now don’t want to eat junk food anymore. So it’s a support system for living a healthier lifestyle.”
Best for middle aged women.
Surname
Costs: 12.50 euros per month.
Noom is a subscription-based service developed by psychologists, nutritionists and coaches that aims to change your relationship with food and achieve lasting results. Users answer a series of questions and then receive a personalized plan based on goals, age, gender and psychological factors. You have access to a coach and a community of Noom users. A study published in the journal The British Medical Journal found that 64 percent of British Noom users lost more than 5 percent of their total body weight. Another study found that 78 percent of participants who took Noom lost weight over the six-month study period.
Author Sophie Morris says: “After ten years of not dieting, I turned to Num, the ultimate weight-loss cliché, six months before I turned 40, deciding to wear sequined trousers. Noom claims it’s fundamentally different from any other weight loss approach, but when you sign up, you’ll find that it’s a classic low-calorie, low-fat diet. You weigh everything, track all your food in the app, and step on the scale every day. Lessons and tests teach nutrition and evaluate psychological approaches to eating with the goal of training our brains to give up “bad” habits.
“I was hoping I could trick my brain into avoiding food. That’s pretty much what happened. I lost six kilos in four months and wore these very tight trousers on the last night before lockdown in March 2020. Four years later, only two of those kilograms had returned. Trick? I became more obsessed with my weight than ever. And I missed the pudding like a lost lover. I remember at a party they were passing a bowl of tiramisu across the table. I wanted them, but I couldn’t eat them.
“It works, but it made me give up foods I know I like, which didn’t feel right.”
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.